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Thursday, December 15, 2011

Working on Edits

Sorry it's been a while since my last post...way too much going on at the moment!

I swear I think working on edits is sometimes much harder than writing the initial draft. Reading what has already been written and trying to decipher what needs to be polished, thrown out, or moved to a completely different part of the story is not easy and not always fun.

So, why have I decided to fuss about this right now? Because I'm in the middle of editing L&L #3 and it's been quite a struggle so far. And when things become a struggle, I suddenly find all kinds of other things to distract me. (I know, bad Wendy, but that's the way it goes sometimes.)

The other reason that edits become such a chore is that my Muse and I are the editors...there's no disinterested third party that tells me sections suck or rock. This situation is both frustrating and rewarding...frustrating because I'm so close to the story that I don't always see the flaws and rewarding because my Muse and I actually do make a great editing team. I'm always happy with the end result, it's just getting to the end result that can be quite challenging at times.

I don't know about other authors but when I write, I become the characters. So, when words appear on the screen, I may not always be expecting what appears. Sometimes it's better than my original thoughts about the scene; sometimes it's worse. And when those scenes come under scrutiny by someone other than myself (yeah, even if it's my Muse), I tend to get very defensive. Because, in a way, my personal thoughts and feelings are what's being scrutinized. Because, I have become the characters.

So, in some respects, that's what's happening now. I want to take the characters one direction, but my Muse is gently telling me that I need to remain on course for now. And he's right; but I soooo want to go this other direction that it makes it hard for me to focus on what needs to be written. And therefore, I keep putting off edits and re-writes because I know where my heart wants to go but my brain (and my Muse) tell me it's not time yet.

But, I am determined to get this next novel out. And I'm determined to make it the best one yet. So, I'll suck it up for now and get back to writing and editing because in the end, it's totally worth all of the heartache and frustration and self-doubts and other conflicting emotions that always swamp me during this phase!